Emmy for Best Drama Supporting Actress: Lena Headey (‘Game of Thrones’) has near-unanimous support to win

In an odd case of life imitating art, Lena Headey will finally ascend the Emmy podium for the very episode in which her “Game of Thrones” character claimed the iron throne of Westeros. After two previous losses in the Best Drama Supporting Actress race, our Emmy Awards experts drawn from major media outlets say that Headey’s win[-ter] is coming. Are they right?

Meanwhile, Joyce Eng (TV Guide) is the only rogue journalist going with someone else in this category. She thinks that two-time “Downton Abbey” champ Maggie Smith will take home a goodbye trophy for the departing PBS series, giving her 7/2 odds. Don’t forget, Smith is an awards darling who’s won two Oscars for “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” (lead, 1969) and “California Suite” (supporting, 1978), as well as a trio of Emmys for “My House in Umbria” (2003) and “Downton Abbey” (2011 and 2012).

Last year’s winner Uzo Aduba (“Orange is the New Black”) was strangely snubbed this year, which makes the Drama Supporting Actress race an exciting one to follow. On the off chance that Headey and Smith both lose, who else is in the running this year?

Joining Headey on the nomination block are a pair of her “Game of Thrones” co-stars: three-time nominee Emilia Clarke and fresh face Maisie Williams. Clarke seems like the logical choice to upset Headey, as she’s in third place with odds of 10/1. But Williams, who’s in sixth place with 40/1 odds, came out of nowhere to reap a nomination, suggesting that she has many more fans within the TV academy than we initially thought.

Never count out underdog Constance Zimmer, who pops up in fourth place with 12/1 odds. This former “Boston Legal” and “Entourage” star won Best Supporting Actress at the Critics’ Choice Awards for Lifetime’s “UnReal,” which is strategically airing new episodes now, just in time for Emmy voting in August.

And surprise nominee Maura Tierney (“The Affair”) has a shot to follow up her victory at the Golden Globes with an Emmy win for season two of her Showtime drama. Despite “The Affair” being otherwise snubbed across the board, Tierney has 18/1 odds to win, good enough for fifth place in our experts’ rankings.

Be sure to make your Emmy predictions right here. You’ll compete to win our contest prizes for best picks — $500 (first place), $300 (second place) and $200 (third place) in Amazon gift certificates — a place of honor on our leaderboard and a starring role in next year’s Top 24 Users (the two dozen folks who do the best predicting this year’s Emmy nominations). Be sure to read our contest rules.